On 19 March, on the election day, the elector Mikalai Bernat came to polling station #40 to vote. He found out that on 18 March somebody had voted for him, which was witnessed by the date and signature in the list of electors. The commission members failed to explain how it could happen. The chair of the commission included the indignant elector in additional list to give him the possibility to vote. On 22 March Mr Bernat complained against the illegal actions of the polling station election commission to Minsk district procurator, asking to conduct a check-up on the discovered facts. As a result, on 24 March Minsk Inter-district Procurator’s Office brought a criminal case against the chair of polling station commission #40 of Minsk district V.Ivanchyk under article 167-3 (violation of the electoral legislation).

On 25 March Mr Bernat was detained during the violent dispersal of the peaceful protest action in Minsk and sentenced to 10 days of arrest. After the end of the prison term he received a letter from the procurator’s office with information about the initiation of the criminal case. The letter was sent on 31 March, the week after the case was brought.